Bearwood Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Bearwood Primary School Bearwood Road, Sindlesham, Wokingham, Berkshire RG41 5BB

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Outcome

Bearwood Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are rightly proud of their kind and friendly school. Adults make sure that all pupils start each day with a warm welcome. Staff are keen to hear pupils’ views and take prompt action to resolve any concerns. This helps pupils to feel happy and safe.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has high aspirations for all pupils to achieve their very best. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and those pupils who speak English as an additional language are supported well to be successful. Pupils are ambitious and work hard in their lessons. They recognise and meet the high expectations that staff have for both their academic and pastoral development.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave well. The behaviour policy is understood across the staff team and applied fairly and consistently. The school offers a wide range of extra-curricular activities that help pupils to build confidence, independence and readiness for their next stage of education. Pupils enjoy their roles and responsibilities, such as being school councillors, class ambassadors, librarians and peer mediators. The school takes bullying concerns very seriously. Incidents are dealt with robustly and resolved quickly. Pupils are supported effectively to attend school regularly and arrive on time.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Governors, leaders and staff are united in their ambitious vision for the school. Pupils achieve well, yet there is no sense of complacency. There is a school-wide determination to build on every success and achievement.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Children get off to a strong start in the early years. This is because there are high expectations for their learning and behaviour from the beginning of their school life. As a result, children are ready to learn and take every opportunity to do so. They share and take turns, describing their feelings well to adults and each other. Interactions between staff and children are consistently of a high quality, which supports strong language development. 4 and 5 June 2024

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Early reading is taught well. The phonics and early reading curriculum defines precisely what the school wants pupils to know and by when. Pupils read regularly. Highly skilled staff provide help for those pupils who struggle to become more fluent readers. Because of this, pupils draw on prior knowledge and remember their learning well. Consequently, they are well prepared for the next stages of their learning.

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In most subjects, the curriculum is sequenced with precision, from Nursery to Year 6. It identifies the important knowledge and skills pupils are to learn. However, in a few subjects, the essential learning is not always set out clearly enough. This means that teachers are not always confident about how to help pupils build their knowledge towards achieving the challenging curriculum goals that have been set.

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Teachers have had training which enables them to deliver the planned curriculum confidently and effectively. They start lessons by checking what pupils know and have remembered before introducing the new learning. This is particularly well established in reading and mathematics. In these subjects, staff use these reviews to precisely inform their teaching and address gaps in learning or misconceptions swiftly. The school acknowledges there is more work to be done in other subjects to check pupils’ recall of the most important content and to refine how staff use this information to inform teaching.

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The school has clear processes to identify and support disadvantaged pupils, including those with SEND. The school ensures that pupils with SEND access the same curriculum as their peers. Teachers adapt tasks skilfully and provide support quickly. The school routinely reviews the impact of any extra support, to check it is working. Consequently, the needs of disadvantaged pupils, including those with SEND or for whom English is an additional language, are met well.

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Pupils’ wider development is planned carefully. The school offers a wide range of clubs and activities that closely match pupils’ talents and interests. The school actively seeks pupils’ views, and pupils are proud of the part they have played in securing the exciting range of breaktime activities, such as the new bikes and adventure play equipment. Pupils enjoy learning about different cultures. They have a deep understanding of fairness and equality. Pupils value differences in other people and the opportunity to learn from them. They are polite and respectful towards each other.

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Staff are proud to work at the school. They value the support and professional development they receive that positively impacts on their teaching. Governors have a strong knowledge of the school. They know what the school is doing well and what needs refining to continue to provide a good quality of education for all pupils, including those who are disadvantaged.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 4 and 5 June 2024

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In some wider curriculum subjects, the school has not clearly identified and sequenced the essential knowledge that pupils need to learn and remember over time. This means that some pupils do not build on their prior knowledge and learn as well as they could. The school should ensure that the curriculum in all subjects specifies cumulative knowledge precisely, so that pupils develop a consistently deep understanding.  Teachers do not gather and use assessment information consistently well. In some subjects, pupils have gaps in their knowledge because teachers are unaware of what pupils know and understand. The school should ensure that teachers understand fully what pupils have learned, so that they can adapt subsequent lessons to meet pupils’ needs effectively.

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Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good. This is called an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in February 2019.

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How can I feed back my views?

find out what other parents and carers think. We use information from Ofsted Parent View when deciding which schools to inspect, when to inspect them and as part of their inspection.

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How can I feed back my views?

The Department for Education has further guidance on how to complain about a school.

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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

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Further information

In the report, ‘ disadvantaged pupils ’ is used to mean pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND); pupils who meet the definition of children in need of help and protection ; pupils receiving statutory local authority support from a social worker; and pupils who otherwise meet the criteria used for deciding the school’s pupil premium 4 and 5 June 2024

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funding (this includes pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years, looked after children (children in local authority care) and/or children who left care through adoption or another formal route). 4 and 5 June 2024

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Chair of governing body Christine Jeater

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School details

Website www.bearwood-pri.wokingham.sch.uk

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 26 and 27 February 2019, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school does not currently use any alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time judgement about the quality of a school’s education provision.  This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and has taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  During the inspection, the inspector held meetings with the headteacher, the senior leadership team, other leaders, teachers and pupils.  The inspector met with representatives of the governing body. The inspector also spoke with a representative from the local authority.  The inspector carried out deep dives in these subjects: reading, including early reading, mathematics and geography. For each deep dive, the inspector held discussions about the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.

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 The inspector also met with leaders to evaluate pupils’ work in art and design and religious education.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspector: reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils; and considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  The inspector spoke to a range of staff and pupils about their views of the school.  The inspector took account of a range of other information, including the school’s development plans, school policies and governors’ minutes.  The inspector considered the responses to the Ofsted Parent View questionnaire and the free-text comments that were submitted. They took account of the responses to the confidential staff survey. The inspector also gathered the views of staff, parents, carers and pupils throughout the inspection.

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Inspection team

Clare Morgan, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 4 and 5 June 2024

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regulates and inspects to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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